diff --git a/spec/pg/connection_spec.cr b/spec/pg/connection_spec.cr
index 3dedb40d..2a8caa3a 100644
--- a/spec/pg/connection_spec.cr
+++ b/spec/pg/connection_spec.cr
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ require "../spec_helper"
 
 describe PG::Connection, "#initialize" do
   it "raises on bad connections" do
-    expect_raises(DB::ConnectionRefused) {
+    expect_raises(DB::ConnectionRefused, "Cannot establish connection") {
       DB.open("postgres://localhost:5433")
     }
   end
diff --git a/src/pg/connection.cr b/src/pg/connection.cr
index 75b3cdda..b1ffc9ff 100644
--- a/src/pg/connection.cr
+++ b/src/pg/connection.cr
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ module PG
         @connection = PQ::Connection.new(conn_info)
         @connection.connect
       rescue ex
-        raise DB::ConnectionRefused.new(cause: ex)
+        raise DB::ConnectionRefused.new(ex.message, cause: ex)
       end
     end